TIM DRAPER

Started Draper Associates in 1985, following his father Bill Draper and grandfather William H. Draper Jr.

into venture capital — making them the only three-generation VC dynasty in Silicon Valley. Early backer of Hotmail in 1996, which Microsoft acquired for $400 million.

Led investments in Skype before eBay bought it for $2.6 billion. Backed Tesla when Elon Musk was still explaining what an electric car was.

In 2014, bought nearly 30,000 Bitcoin from a US Marshals auction of seized Silk Road coins at roughly $632 each. Founded Draper University in San Mateo in 2012 — a residential school for entrepreneurs that looks like a startup summer camp.

Pioneered viral marketing by insisting Hotmail add "Get your free email at Hotmail" to every outgoing message — arguably inventing growth hacking before the term existed. Has investments across 40+ countries and runs Draper Venture Network, connecting VC firms globally.

Draper Associates (founder, 1985–present), Draper Fisher Jurvetson (co-founder, later DFJ), Draper University (founder, 2012–present), Draper Goren Holm (crypto-focused fund)

Throws big bets at transformative technology long before the market catches up. Pattern recognition across decades — he saw the internet, mobile, and crypto waves early and rode all three.

Prefers founders who are slightly unhinged in their ambition. Doesn't do safe bets on incremental improvements.

His thesis is simple: back the crazy ones, because the sane ones build boring companies.

The Hotmail deal in 1996 is the foundational one — $300,000 investment turned into a piece of a $400 million acquisition by Microsoft. But the Bitcoin buy might be the all-timer.

Those 30,000 coins purchased for roughly $19 million at the 2014 US Marshals auction hit over $2 billion in value at Bitcoin's peak. The Tesla investment was also massive — backing Elon Musk early when most VCs thought electric cars were a joke.

Skype was another home run, selling to eBay for $2.6 billion.

Theranos. Full stop.

Draper was one of Elizabeth Holmes' earliest and most vocal backers, and he continued defending her long after the fraud became public. He reportedly invested at a $9 billion valuation.

When asked about it years later, he essentially said he'd do it again because backing visionaries means sometimes they're actually con artists. It's a remarkably honest take, but an expensive one.

Believes the next trillion-dollar companies will come from sectors most people dismiss as impossible. "The world is going to change, and the people who change it are the ones who seem crazy at first." Thinks government regulation is the biggest obstacle to innovation.

Has proposed splitting California into six states. Not a details person — he bets on people and movements, not spreadsheets.

Son of Bill Draper (VC) and grandson of William H. Draper Jr.

(also VC and diplomat). His son Adam Draper founded Boost VC, a pre-seed fund focused on sci-fi technology — making the Drapers a four-generation venture family.

Married to Melissa Draper.

Stanford University (BA in Electrical Engineering), Harvard Business School (MBA). Third-generation Stanford legacy.

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